Fortnite Gamers Flock to Get Sneak Peek of ‘Star Wars’ Movie

(Bloomberg) -- Fortnite players got a sneak peek of a scene from Walt Disney Co.’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in the video game a week before it hits theaters.

In footage posted on Twitter, Fortnite players were embedded below in a scene with the Millennium Falcon being chased by First Order fighters and several star destroyers looming high in the sky.

Players were allowed to choose the color of their lightsaber, according to a post by Star Wars Stuff.

The event was teased at the Game Awards, the video game version of the Oscars, which featured a clip from director J.J. Abrams saying: “Join me in Fortnite on Saturday for an exclusive look at the movie. To see the whole thing, you’ve got to be in the game.”

Gamers initially complained on Twitter that the weren’t able to log on to the event. The game was still experiencing technical issues after the event started, according to a tweet from Fortnite Status.

Donald Mustard, creative director of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, was vague about what exactly players would see, leaving the teaser that “it’s going to be something no one has ever seen before.” Participants at the Star Wars event also received the Whisper Glider, a tool a player could use in the game to fly around.

The movie is the finale in Disney’s latest Star Wars trilogy. Fortnite, which was released in July 2017, had about 250 million registered users as of May.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Matthew G. Miller

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